“She would still be out of your league,” Ramirez interrupted.
“Heh! You’re probably right. Speaking of which,” Donnagan said indicating the door. “Here come the two lovebirds now.”
“Hey Tracy,” Linda said brightly.
Tracy smiled at the cashier. “Hey Linda, how’s your night going?”
Linda’s expression darkened as Drifts entered. “I’ve been better.”
Drifts smiled at her warily, “Hey Linda.”
Linda sniffed loudly and pointedly turned her back on him as she checked her inventory of cigarettes.
Tracy gave Drifts a questioning look. Drifts shrugged and mouthed the words,
This bitch is crazy.
Ramirez shared a look with Donnagan, who said, “Let me guess, Linda has already fallen victim to Sam’s bullshit wooing.”
“Yep.”
“It didn’t go to well for her, did it?”
“Nope.”
“And now he has his sights set on Tracy?” Donnagan asked.
“Among a few others, yes.”
Donnagan declared, “I keep trying to tell her that Sam is nothing but a man-whore.”
“What does she say?”
“Nothing really. She gives me a ‘You think so’? In truth I think it intrigues her more than anything.”
Ramirez shook his head. “Some people can only learn the hard way.”
“That’s truth if I have ever heard it,” agreed Donnagan.
Tracy and Drifts approached them. Tracy gave Leo a quick hug. “Hey, Leo! Sounds like you guys are having a rough night.”
Ramirez shrugged. “Something like that.”
She turned to look at Justin. “How lucky are you? A code, multiple traumas, and three runners. Wow! I don’t know what I would have done if that were my first night in the field. It must have been really exciting!”
“It has been,” said Justin “I’ve had a lot of firsts. I’ve learned so much.”
She patted Ramirez’s shoulder, “Well Leo, is one of the best teachers. I told you he will show you the ropes.”
“I believe you,” said Justin.
“That’s because it’s true.” She gave the medic one more quick squeeze.
“It all balances out.” Donnagan chimed in. “Leo imparts his knowledge and Sam here inadvertently dumbs you back down. I can say from experience that this kid’s first night out on the rig will end in a draw.”
“Hardy fucking har har, Joe.” Drifts glared at the other EMT, but his eyes didn’t hold any real heat.
The five of them went to the counter together with their fountain drinks and coffee. Linda began to wave them by. “Joe, Leo, the coffee is on the house.”
“Thank you,” said Ramirez as Donnagan also grunted his thanks.
“Tracy, Justin,” she almost cooed the paramedic student’s name. “You don’t have to pay for those.”
“Really?” asked Justin.
She shook her head smiling. “No sir, they’re complimentary.”
Drifts placed several items of food including two hot dogs a candy bar and bag of chips on the counter. He sipped on his fountain drink as he waited for Linda to ring them up. She thrust the dagger-point of her gaze at the drink in his hand, “Were you planning on paying for that?”
Indicating his drink he said, “I thought you said that this was complimentary?”
Her eyes narrowed. “For people I like and respect. You are neither.”
Drifts grumbled as he fished out his wallet. The procession of EMS paused at the glass doors. Ramirez and Donnagan were stifling their laughter as Justin and Tracy stared at the scenario with open shock.
Linda locked her eyes onto Tracy’s. “You don’t want to date this man. Trust me. He will say anything to get you into bed with him, but he will use you and lose you the second after he sets eyes on the next pair of pretty legs he fancies.”
“Oh really?” Tracy cocked an eyebrow at Drifts.
“Here’s your money.” Drifts slapped a bill onto the counter. “Keep the change!”
“Oh, I’ve finally gotten something out of our relationship: eleven cents. Thank you, Sam. It was magical.”
This time Donnagan and Ramirez didn’t bothering stifling their chuckles. They quickly excused themselves out of the store. Drifts stomped after them muttering under his breath, “Fucking bitch!”
Tracy flanked him. “So . . . um . . . what was that all about?”
“We dated. It didn’t end well.”
Tracy nodded. “I noticed that. What happened, exactly?”
Drifts was saved an awkward explanation when Justin pointed. “What’s up with that guy over there?”
They looked where he pointed and saw a man staggering by the road. He stumbled and his plodding steps took him out onto the road. A car blared on its horn as it had to swerve to avoid hitting him.
Ramirez started forward. “Justin, get the medical bag.”
“On it!”
Drifts, Tracy, and Donnagan followed Ramirez as he grabbed his radio. “Triple-Three to dispatch.”
“Go ahead, Triple-Three,” his radio squawked back.
“Dispatch, go ahead and show Triple-Three and Unit Three-Fourteen on scene with a man who needs assistance at Post Forty-Four.”
“Triple-Three and Three-Fourteen on scene. Do you require any further assistance from PD or Fire?”
“Not yet. We’ll let you know.”
Together they crossed the street as they headed to the odd man. The man seemed to note their approach and attempted to change course to intercept them. He staggered forward and caught his feet on each other and collapsing to the asphalt.
“Has he turned?” asked Tracy.
“Maybe,” Ramirez paused.
He yanked free his flashlight and shined the light on their mystery patient.
He shook his head. “No. He’s still breathing. Probably high on something.”
“You think?” Donnagan and Drifts said together. The two EMTs looked at each other.
Ramirez kept his smile turned away from them. Another car passed by the downed man as they approached. The draft it created wafted the stale aroma of week-old piss, unwashed sweat, and alcohol into their nostrils. Drifts wretched.
“Oh, God,” moaned Tracy as her hand went to her face.
“Oh, wow. That is kind of stinky.” Justin caught up to them with the medical bag.
Even Ramirez the veteran of thousands of assaults to his nose, had to pause. He realized there was something distinctly familiar about this stench. “Roger?” he called out,
The flushed face of their regular patient looked up into the flashlight and slurred, “Who’s callin’ me?”
“No fucking way!” exclaimed Drifts.
Tracy groaned. “Not this guy again. We ran him last night.”
“Yeah, we ran him tonight,” Drifts said. “Picked him up at Lovecraft Park. We left him at Memorial Hospital.
Donnagan snapped his fingers. “That’s right! We saw him in one of the hall beds out there earlier. That’s one hell of a jog from here. What would you say, four miles?”
“Something like that,” Ramirez agreed. “Regardless, we better help him before he gets himself killed.”
“I know that’s our job and everything, Leo, but would that really be such a bad thing?” asked Drifts.
“Sam!” Tracy punched the younger EMT on the arm.
“What? I’m just saying.”
Ramirez shook his head. “Save it for inside the rig, Sam.”
He approached the staggering man. “Roger, how’re you doing?”
Roger squinted at him. “Do I fucking know you?”
Ramirez smiled. “Sure you do, Roger. We go way back.”
Roger waved him away. “The hell we do! Get the fuck away from me!”
He tried to stagger away out into the street before another oncoming car. Ramirez became a blur as he yanked back onto the median.
“Motherfucker! Let go of me!” Roger awkwardly whirled around to punch the older medic. Ramirez simply nudged him and the drunk fell onto his rump in the grass without landing a punch.
“Don’t do that,” Ramirez said sternly. “You could get yourself killed that way.”
“Who fucking cares!” the drunk man shot back.
Ramirez said, “I do for one. And so do my friends here.”
“Well, fuck them! And fuck you too!”
“Oh my!” laughed Tracy.
Ramirez commented, “Roger, I do believe that you are drunker now than you were earlier tonight.”
Donnagan snapped his fingers again. “Higson’s Bar! We saw him there once when we ran a call in there about two weeks ago. He was sitting at the bar. It just closed an hour ago.”
Drifts looked around. “Hey, Roger, where’s your backpack?”
Roger looked around blearily. “Where’s my backpack?” He glared up at them. “What the fuck did you do with it? Where’s my fucking backpack! That’s mine, dammit!”
“We didn’t do anything with it, Roger,” Ramirez told him calmly. “You must have left it somewhere.”
“Give it back, you fucking asshole!” He swiped at Ramirez who stepped back easily. “Try to steal from me, motherfucker! Gonna kill you!”
Roger tried to stand up, but his efforts caused him to stagger forward into the street. Ramirez, Drifts, and Donnagan hauled him back and laid him back safely in the grass. Ramirez sighed heavily. “We’re probably going to have to take him back to the ER to sober up.”
Donnagan nodded. “That’s probably true, but the real question is, who is going to take him?”
The scene became very quiet as both crews waited in the pregnant pause for the other to volunteer. After a few moments when it became clear that neither crew was going to step forward, Roger broke the silence himself. “I don’t want to go to the hospital!”
“Quiet!” The two crews said in unison.
Donnagan smiled at Justin. “Are you sure your student couldn’t use the experience?”
Ramirez shook his head. “Nice try. Justin has already experienced Roger tonight.”
Donnagan shrugged. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“There’s only one way to settle this,” Ramirez said finally.
Donnagan nodded. “Agreed. It’s the only way.”
“Who do you want to represent our crews? Senior members, medics, EMTs, or junior members?” Ramirez asked.
“Senior members of the crew,” Donnagan answered. “First time or two out of three?”
“Two out of three,” said Ramirez. “Shoot on three or one-two-three then shoot?”
Donnagan said, “I like one two three then shoot.”
Ramirez and Donnagan squared off, raising their hands.
“You got this, Leo!” Drifts cheered.
“Come on, Joe! Bring the victory home to Momma!” Tracy called.
Together they simultaneously they balled their hands into fists. Donnagan asked, “Are you ready?” His eyes grim, Ramirez nodded.
They called out in unison, “One-two-three-shoot!”
“Damn!” exclaimed Donnagan. He was holding out two fingers.
Ramirez smiled as he held out his fist. “Rock beats scissors.”
Chapter Twelve
Flag Down
“You had him! You fucking had him!”
“Let me the fuck go! Untie my motherfucking hands!” Roger snarled into his oxygen mask. Brown sputum lined the clear plastic and smeared against his unkempt beard.
Drifts groaned, “I can’t believe we have to fucking transport this jackoff twice!”
“Fuck you!” shouted Roger.
“And you,” Drifts snapped back at his inebriated patient, “how stupid can you be? Getting froggy with us twice in the same night! Didn’t you learn anything from our first encounter?”
“Fuck you!” Roger screamed.
“I don’t think that he’s in the educating mood, Sam,” said Ramirez.
“I know that!” Drifts looked back at Justin, “Hey kid, you still have a goober on your shoulder.” Justin gagged as he grabbed a piece of gauze and wiped the nickel-sized gob of sputum off his shoulder, leaving a brown tinged smear in its wake.
Drifts smirked. “By the way, good job taking Drinkey MacDrunkerson down. I have to admit, you have some stones on you. When Miss-fucking-Congeniality went ape-shit back there, you didn’t bat an eye.”
Justin flushed. “Um, thanks.” Drifts rolled his eyes. “Don’t let it go to her your head, kid. All I mean is I don’t think you completely suck.”
Ramirez nodded. “Which is Sam’s off-handed way of saying he loves you.” Drifts snorted, then made a kissing gesture in the rearview mirror.
“Aw, thank you,” Justin gushed with mock sincerity. “I love you too.”
Suddenly a pair of headlights flashed up into the rearview section of the ambulance. They all looked around as the vehicle behind them blinked its high beams on and off.
Drifts gripped the wheel tighter. “What the hell are these jackoffs doing?”
The vehicle blared its horn several times. Its engine revved as it peeled up the street beside them, coming parallel to the rig.
“The fuckers in this car are gesturing at me. They want me to stop!” Drifts called back at Ramirez, “What do you want me to do?”
Ramirez’s hackles raised. “Call it in now! Then-”
The car shot ahead, and pulled in front of them, and slammed its brakes.
“Hold on!” shouted Drifts as his own foot stomped down on the break pad.
Triple-Three’s tires screeched across the pavement as everything and everyone lurched forward. Ramirez was flung into the cowcatcher, a webbing of canvas straps that hung from the side bench to the ceiling, installed for just such unfortunate occasions. Justin had the distinct misfortune of landing on Roger’s lap, face first. Loose contents they were using from gauze, to IV supplies, to Ramirez’s clipboard catapulted forward peppering everyone within.
“Ow!” shouted Roger. “Get the fuck off of me!”
Justin repressed a gag and hurried to push himself off.
“What the fuck are these motherfuckers trying to pull?” Drifts snarled.
The EMT slammed the ambulance into park and was already undoing his seatbelt and starting out the door.
They could hear him shout, “Hey! What the hell!”
“Sam! Wait!” Ramirez pushed himself up out of the cramped space and was scrambling out the door. He only paused long enough to stab a commanding finger at Justin. “Do not come out for anything! If there is trouble, drive away!” He didn’t wait to see if the student caught the full meaning of his words. He had already closed the door behind him and pulled free his radio. He keyed the mic. “Triple-Three we-”
A voice shot out at him. “Motherfucker, put down that fucking radio!” The owner of the voice was a pimply-faced youth wearing gang colors aiming a pistol at him. He wasn’t alone. Two other gang members with him, one had a gun trained on Drifts, and the other stood by their vehicle. His gaze kept darting from them to the tinted interior of his car.
Drifts’s face was crimson with open rage, but he kept his mouth firmly shut and his hands up.
Ramirez slowly lowered his radio. It squawked in his hand, “Triple-Three?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” the first one snarled. “Aren’t you motherfuckers supposed to help people and shit?”
“Yes. That is what we do,” Ramirez said evenly.
“Then why the fuck didn’t you stop when we waved you down?”
“We were about to.”
His radio squawked again, “Unit Triple-Three, unit Three-Three-Three, please respond.”
The leader pointed his pistol at the radio. “Man, turn that shit off!”
Ramirez nodded. “Okay. I will.” He pressed the orange panic button on top a moment before he flicked off the radio.
“I’m sick of this shit!” the leader roared. “Dealing with motherfuckers like you!”
“What is it you need?” Ramirez asked.
The leader glared at him. “I need you motherfuckers to do your job and fucking stop when people ask for help!”
Ramirez nodded. “We will work on being more efficient at that. Is there anything that we can help you with right now?”
The leader’s hand tensed around the grip of his pistol. “Motherfucker, are you giving me attitude? You have no idea what kind of fucking night we’ve had. I will not bat one motherfucking-eye to put a bullet between yours! So you best-”
“Terrence!” the one by the car called. “We don’t have time for this shit! Antoine is not looking good at all!”
“Julius, don’t talk to me like that in front of them!” shouted Terrence.
Julius shouted back, “You’re wasting fucking time man!”
“Who is Antoine?” Drifts asked.
The leader whirled around and pointed the pistol at Drifts, “Never you fucking mind!”
Ramirez asked, “What happen to him?”
Julius opened the door and waved them over. “He was shot a little bit ago. Man, he doesn’t look good!”
Ramirez looked at Terrence who kept changing his aim from Drifts to himself. “May we approach your friend and see if we can help?”
Julius spoke for him, “Terrence! Billy! Put your God damn guns down now! These ambulance folks can’t do a motherfucking thing from over there!”
The remaining gang members lowered their weapons. Ramirez stepped past them warily and approached the car. He shined his flashlight inside of the vehicle. In the backseat was skinny kid of about fourteen or fifteen. He was sweating profusely and panting, his eyes were glazed over. He was bleeding heavily from a wound on his abdomen.
Ramirez looked up at his partner who was now just behind him. “Sam?”
Drifts nodded, “I’ll get a backboard and the trauma bag.” He ran back to the truck.
Ramirez felt for a pulse at the radial artery on his wrist, but it was absent. His skin was cold and clammy. He tried the carotid artery of his neck. It was there, but weak. “How long ago did this happen?”
“Twenty minutes at most!” said the one by the car.
“I’ve got the board!” Drifts said as he returned.
“We need to move!” Ramirez.
Ramirez unclamped the straps and pushed the corner of the board underneath the injured young man’s legs. Antoine groaned.
Terrence snarled, “What the hell are you doing? You’re hurting him!”
“That can’t be helped,” Ramirez responded calmly. “We need to get him to the hospital fast.”
Rage radiated off of Terrence. “You better not hurt him, because-”
Julius cut him off. “Terrence! I know you mean well, but shut the fuck up! You ain’t helping Antoine one bit threatening these guys like that!” He looked up at Ramirez. “What can we do?”
Ramirez nodded. “You three, get the board on this end and hold it up parallel with the car.”
“I’ll get him from the car other side.” Drifts went to the back passenger seat and climbed in. “Leo, there is a hell of a lot of blood in here.”
“I know,” Ramirez acknowledged.
The veteran medic looked into Antoine’s vacant eyes. “Young man, we are going to lay you down and get you to the hospital. This might hurt, but we’ll be as gentle as we can.”
He looked from his partner to the three gang members. “Everyone ready?”
They all nodded.
“Ready? One-two-three!”
Ramirez took Antoine by the shoulders and Drifts took his legs. Together they pivoted him around in his seat and laid him down on the backboard. Antoine cried out and more blood spurted from his abdomen.
Terrence’s face contorted with terror. “It’s okay, buddy! Hold on!”
“You,” Ramirez looked at the closest, Billy, who was also the brawniest. “Help me slide him down.”
Together he and Billy took Antoine by the shoulders and legs and slid him higher up on the board while Drifts anchored one end on the back driver side seat. Ramirez quickly secured him in place with the leg and chest straps.
Ramirez asked, “Will you please help us carry him to our ambulance?”
Terrence looked at him sharply. “Why can’t you get your stretcher?”
“Because we already have a patient already on it. Hence why I’m asking.”
“Okay,” said Julius.
Together the five of them hoisted it to the back of the ambulance. As Drifts pulled open the door and Justin stared up at them wide eyed.
“What the fuck is this horseshit!” Roger demanded.
“What the fuck!” Terrence snarled as he saw Justin. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you had someone in the back of your fucking ambulance?”
Ramirez ignored him as he said, “Everyone lift him on the bench! Ready? One-two-three!”
Justin helped pull the new patient onto the bench and slid the seatbelts over Antoine without being asked.
Terrence grabbed Ramirez’s arm and pulled him around to face him. “I asked you a question, motherfucker!”
“Hey!” shouted Drifts.
Ramirez held up his hand to silence his partner at his partner and looked up at the hand on his arm. He looked back up meeting the gang member’s eyes “For the same reason you pulled over an ambulance at gunpoint: I, just like you, will protect my own.” Terrence held his eyes and nodded. He let his hand drop. “We will do what we can for Antoine. Please leave now. The police are on their way and I don’t want any more trouble from anyone.”
Terrence’s eyes went wide then narrowed. “Okay.”
Billy said, “Did he just say that the cops were coming? Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
“Please take care of him,” said Julius.
“We will.” He looked at Drifts. “Come on, Sam.” Drifts entered Triple-Three through the box. “Get us out of here quickly, please.”
Drifts hopped inside the cab. “You don’t have to tell me fucking twice.”
Ahead of the ambulance, the three gang members scrambled into the car and their wheels screeched as they tore away. Moments later, it rounded a corner and was gone.
“How’s he look in the light?” asked Drifts.
Instead of answering his partner, Ramirez asked, “Antoine, how are you doing?” The young man was panting and licked his lips as he tried to answer.
Roger screamed out, “Hey! What the fuck is going on?”
“Be quiet, Roger!” Ramirez snapped. “We don’t have time for your foolishness!”
“Fuck you!”
“Ignore him, young man.”
“Sc-scared!”
Ramirez squeezed Antoine’s hand. “I know you are young man. Justin and I are right here with you.”
“Here you go, Leo” Justin handed him the IV starter kit and primed IV bag.